Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, 1887-01-20

township, @,65O, 80; city, s24S7 ,4S611, and
School district q, 74S 14.5O. On the LIST OF Jan
uary, 1887, this dreadful burden Of local indebt-
edness had increased to 1898 ,S51.
Here tabulated statement is given showing
that Of this amount county, township and city
bonds to the amount Of S120sA0lS have been
voted and issued TO railroads, and 1914, $50 for
all other purposes, making grand total Of
&19, 397, 851. In addition, since January !, 1885,
county, township and city bonds have been
voted, but not yet issued, for railroads sll14G,
600, and for all other purposes S15, 400. Total,
S11 ,222,O
If all the bonds thus voted were issued the
municipal indebtedness of Kansas would be US
follows:
County IA, 3TS061
township. ...-................... 9,4lp3W
city. ............... .<............... 3,3I5.4S4
School District,..,. .,................ 2,so5,4l0
Total. $50 ,Gla,Sj1
It is hardly probable, however that half of the
bonds now voted. but not yot issued, will ever
be earned. But the aggregate OF our municipal
Indebtedness, even if one-half OF the bonds
voted should never be issued, will exceed &a',-
OO00o and it seems to me time to put stop,
firmly and thoroughly, to this wasteful extrava-
gance. Vast as are the resources Of our State.
wonderful as It's growth has been and bright as
its prospects Gre, neither the produetivencss
and development Of the present nor the hopes Of
tho future will justify continIanee OF such
| reckless folly ip bondvoting
RAILROAD BONDS.
1t will be observed that s12 OS3 O1S OF the bends
already issued, and ST. 500 of those voted but
not yet issued have been voted to aid in build
ing railroads. This system Of b0nd-90t;ng TO
build railroads began twenty years ago, aild
continued for nearly decade. Then came
period of business and Industrial depression,
followed by an area OF attempted Republication,
the effects Of which are still lingering in the
courts. Three years ago another epidemic of
railroad bond-voting broke out, aud has since
spread throughout nearly every section of the
State The most conservative communities
have yielded to the con:agion, and the allah
sorbing ambition OF every county and town In
the State seems to be to secure railroads.
It would not be just to deprive counties hav-
ing no railroads OF the powers other counties
have, thus far, exercised. But If oil authority
to vote bonds In aid Of Or take stock In rail
roads was denied to any county now trHrersed
by one or more lines OF railway, no injustice
would be done, nor would the building of any
legitimate or needed line Of railway be retarded
or prevented. AS long, however, as counties,
townships or cities arc permitted to vote bonds
for such purposes, just so long will the bond
voting continue. One community will vote ad-
ditiOnal Indebtedness itself because,i 1t does
not, 1t may lose advantages 1t has already
paid immense sums Of money to secure. In
this age railroads make and unmake cities
and towns, and hence fourishing community on
whose commerce and industries the prosperity
OF hundreds of thousands of people depend may
be destroyed by the building Of one or two rail-
ways. Confronted by the alternative OF voting
bonds or Of seeing the Accommodations and labors
of years destroyed, the people, with or without
the approval of their judgment, vote the
bonds" They can not afford to do otherwise.
It is, on the one hand, the assumption of a bur-
densome debt, or, on the other hand, the de-
struction Of all their hopes and, possibly, their
financial ruin.
II, however, all authority to vote bonds in aid
Of railroads was revoked, except in counties
having no railway lines within their limits this
bond-vOting under dureSs would cease. Such
railroads as the carrying trade of the State will
support and all lines demanded by legitimate
business interests, would be built by honest
railway enterprise, without regard to local aid
Any other railroads than these are not, and
never will be of advantage to the State. A
starving railroad is not benefit is curse to
the communities it pretends to serve. Because
such railways as these, or indeed, any lines Of
railroad in excess to the carrying trade of q
country, retard and prevent the establishment
of q result in which all classes of people are
most largely interested viz: the speedy and
constant reduction Of freights and fares to the
lowest possible limit.
am as anxious as any citizen can be that
every section of our State shall be provided
with the most abundant transportation facili-
ties. But, in my judgment, Kansas long ago
passed that stage Of development when a bond
voting stimulus was necessary to promote the
building Of any legitimate railroad.
ASSESSMENT AND TAXATION.
In my message to the Legislature of 1881, at
tention was called to the serious defects in our
laws providing for the assessment and eQualiza-
ton of property values for taxation. 1 again
invoke attention to this subject, which is Of
vital importance to the welfare of the State and
its taxpayers. The present system is notori-
ously inadequate to secure fair or Just eQuali-
cation Of the burdens Of government, State or
local, and should be thoroughly and carefully
revised. Its defects were pointed out in my
message of two years ago, and although some
legislation was had at that time looking to their
correction, the remedy was inadequate.
PUBLIC EDUCATION.
The report Of the State Superintendent of
Public Instruction furnishes full information
concerning the development of our public school
system. The school population of the State
persons between the ages Of five and twenty
one years-is now 497, 7S5, an increase of S65S5
over 1884. The scholars enrolled number 365 239,
an increase Of 61.C3S during the same period.
The average daily attendance was 219, 9OS an in
crease of Il, $780, 1t will be observed that, not
the ample educational facilities
provided by the people Of Kansas for the edu-
cation Of our youth, less than one-half OF the
school population attends the public schools.
These figures, however, hardly serve as q fair
illustration Of non-attendance. Few parents
deem it wise to subject children under seven
years Of age to the confinement or discipline OF
the school room. and, except in few OF the |
larger cities, where high schools are provided,
boys and girls over sixteen or seventeen years |
Of age rarely attend the district schools.
The teachers employed in 1884 numbered !
6342; those employed in 1886 numbered $685.
The average wages paid teachers per month, |
were: males, &42.0s; females, IS. There has !
been a steady increase in teachers salaries for |
many years past.
There are in Kansas 6,791 school houses hav- |
ing total Of $50 rooms, and valued at s6.592,-
Isl. School buildings costing s1,0aa,O42 have |
been erected during the past two years.
The receipts and expenditures for school pur- |
poses during the school year ended July 81. |
1856, were as follows:
Receipts-Balance in district treasures, Au- |
gust 1, 1885, 1915, Sc; amount received from !
county treasurers from district taxes. $780, |
61676: from State and county school funds. |
$a06 l5957; from sale of school bonds STA. 66:
from all other sources, GH, 969.34; making |
total Of q. 4s6, 19l.69.
Expenditures. = Amount paid for teachers
wages and supervision, es213,5s .45; for rents, |
repairs. fuel and incidentsls, 1854 1884: for dis
trict libraries and school apparatus, Isl 10;
for sites. buildings and furniture. $7S5 7.61;
and for all other purposes ala, 800; making |
total Of $3.50, So leaving in hands OF district
July 81, 1885, a balance OF 6ss,1s4.W
The suggestions and recommendations OF the /
State Superintendent, touching the investment /
Ao inst mt